RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Harris County >> Ralston Acres >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Ralston Acres, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ralston Acres and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Ralston Acres:
    • 29.832800, -95.223600
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Ralston Acres
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Harris County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harris County
    • Since Ralston Acres is near Montgomery County and also Chambers County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chambers County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Ralston Acres

Communities Also Named Ralston Acres ...

We found one communities that are also named Ralston Acres.

Within Texas, the name Ralston Acres is unique.

Beyond Texas, there is another community also named Ralston Acres in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Ralston Acres is located in Hillsborough County and lies 805 miles [1,295.5 km]<1> to the east of the Ralston Acres that is located in Harris County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Ralston Acres.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ralston Acres ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Chatwood Place
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Chatwood Place is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatwood Place
  • Cloverleaf
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • El Dorado
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • El Dorado is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Dorado
  • Greens Bayou
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Greens Bayou is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Bayou
  • Greensbrook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Greensbrook is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greensbrook
  • Hidden Forest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hidden Forest is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Forest
  • North Shadydale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • North Shadydale is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Shadydale
  • Pine Trails
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Trails is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Trails
  • Rosedale Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Rosedale Gardens is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale Gardens
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Royalwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Royalwood is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royalwood
    • Scenic Woods
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Scenic Woods is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Woods
    • Shady Timbers
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Shady Timbers is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Timbers
    • Songwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Songwood is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Songwood
    • Winterwood Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Winterwood Village is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winterwood Village
    • Wood Forest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Wood Forest is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Forest

How Far From Ralston Acres to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ralston Acres to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ralston Acres and extending to:

  • Houston, which is the Seat of Harris County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ralston Acres to Houston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 153 miles [246.2 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,207 miles [1,942.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 69 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,078 miles [11,390.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,798 miles [12,549.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,674 miles [9,131.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ralston Acres) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<4>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Ralston Acres to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ralston Acres. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.8328, Longitude: -95.2236       In this case, the coordinates for Ralston Acres have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.507 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.424 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.29 degrees.